In today’s post, I want to review a book I read a long time ago but recently reviewed to refresh my memory of its contents. Leighton Ford wrote Transforming Leadership: Jesus’ Way of Creating Vision, Shaping Values and Empowering Change 27 years ago. The book is still a worthwhile read, especially if you are interested both in Leadership and in Jesus Christ. An abundance of material is available on leadership. Much of it written on…
One of the most important functions of an equipping church leadership is to clarify how their members can transform their vocations into ministry. We cannot assume that the believer will make this connection. We must therefore get away from the practice of focusing all our preaching on the first steps of the Christian life. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews addresses this issue in Hebrews 6:1-3. Therefore let us go on toward perfection,…
Cold, wet, shivering, and groping, we stumbled down the path into the blackness below. The rain had started early that day and it seemed to penetrate to the bone. One foot shuffling in front of the other was all the determination I could muster. Gravity was the main force moving me forward. Our climb to the cross was a success, but now we were lost. An 85-foot rusty iron cross overlooks the city of San…
We find one of the greatest examples in history of equipping leadership in the book of Exodus. You may be familiar with the story as an example of delegation, but it is much more than that. It is a great example of equipping people for ministry. Moses had been serving as judge for the entire nation of the ancient Hebrews, personally handling every case brought before him. When Jethro, his father-in-law, saw what was going…
In the 90s, empowerment was the rage in the leadership literature. The theory (or practice if you want to call it that) went something like this: If you give power to make decisions to those who immediately interface with your customers, not only will customer satisfaction increase, but you will also be building tomorrow’s leaders. While the wording has been drained of its impact through overuse, I believe empowerment does in fact accomplish these important…
